Time Drift
by Playful Light
Summary: Be'lanna is having a bad day, dealing with a time anomaly. Will Tom make her feel better, or worse?


B'Elanna was having a bad day. That was an understatement.

She was walking back to her quarters after a triple shift in engineering, which started after some kind of temporal anomaly had started to screw around with the ships systems. Apparently, the warp core was from three years in the past and the port consoles were from 40 years in the future. Some areas, like B'Elanna's office, were slower than normal time and some faster. Her ire was not helped when she had found out that it had taken her half an hour to get from one side of her office to the other.

After she had almost fallen asleep at her station, Chakotay had ordered her to get some rest. She almost bit his head off but he chased her out of the engine room before she could yell at him that she was chief engineer and she needed to be with her engines when there was trouble. She was still blowing steam when an idea came to her. She was no where near tired. She had a way to correct that.

She redirected the turbolift, getting off on the new level and walked to the new door. She didn't even bother to ring the buzzer and keyed the door to open. Nothing happened. That was strange. Tom had long ago given her access to his quarters. Irritation seeping into her fingers, she jabbed in her command codes and the lock was overridden. She entered the dark room, not bothering to order on the lights as she stripped. Completely naked, she softly padded over to the bed. She could just make out Tom's prone form in the dim light coming from above the bed. He always was such a bed hog.

B'Elanna slipped into bed next to him and let her hand slip up his back under his shirt. Tom woke suddenly, his eyes wide and a confused look twisted his featured.

"B'Elanna? What are you-"

"I just got out of engineering and wanted a little company. I knew you wouldn't mind." She smiled as she shifted closer and his eyes became even larger as he noticed she was completely naked.

"B'Elanna, when did-"

She covered his mouth with hers, her tongue slipping between his unresisting lips to taste him.

"I always said you talk to much." She rasped between sweet kisses.

When Tom realized B'Elanna was serious, his heart jumped into his throat. He'd waited so long; he wasn't going to argue.

B'Elanna rolled on top of Tom as he shifted to lie on his back, their mouths never leaving each other's. She worked her hands up his chest and pulled his shirt over his head. Tom's hands wound their way up her sides and ended at her breasts. She cried out as his thumbs rubbed across her overly sensitive nipples. Her nails tangled in the red-blonde hair that covered his chest as he sat up so his mouth could cover one breast. He began to suckle.

A thought occurred to her. He felt like he did their first time together. He seemed to be slightly unsure how to please her, though he did have quite a bit of past experience to fall back on. She noticed he wasn't sure how rough he should be. She could play it his way; their lovemaking had been quite rough recently.

Tom distracted her from her musing by gently flipping her onto her back, trailing kisses from her throat to her navel. She gasped as he slipped between her legs. His mouth descended on her, parting her folds so his tongue could caress her.

Her mind was a fog by this point but one thought seemed to be able to surface. He was experimenting again. He already knew how to push her buttons, so why did he seem to be just randomly trying everything in the book? Though she had to admit, this new tactic was exciting. Maybe this was his way of spicing up their sex life. Like it really needed it.

She gripped the sheets as his teeth grazed her core. She really liked this experimenting. His tongue started to move faster against her swollen nub. "God…Tom!"

She screamed and bucked against him as her climax washed over her in a wave of heat. Tom slowly eased himself up her body as she panted in the afterglow. He kissed her pubic bone, her navel-he gently nipped her ribs-her breast, a nipple, her clavicle, her throat and finally came to claim her lips.

As the remainders of her afterglow subsided, she felt the heat between her legs return with an intensity ten fold.

"Tom?"

"Yes?"

"On your back. Now." The harshness of her command was overridden by the need in her voice.

He complied without a second thought.

She moved to straddle his hips and take him into herself, but he stopped her short by grabbing her hips. She glared at him in irritation until she saw the look in his eyes. She couldn't explain what she saw there, but whatever it was, he was serious. "What's wrong?"

He shifted his legs off the bed so she straddled his lap.

"I want to remember this. Everything."

She wanted to question what he meant but was cut short as he eased himself inside her, all thought centered around their union. He nuzzled her breasts as she started a slow, easy rhythm.

Tom marveled at how well B'Elanna seemed to know what he liked. She moved her hips in just a way that drove him wild and her nails against his scalp made thought impossible.

She moved against him faster as her control started to slip. His moans only goaded her on, her own moans matching his as pleasant electrical shocks ran through her when her nipples rubbed against his chest. He grabbed her thighs hard for only a second before pulling his hands away, looking guilty. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to hurt you."

What was he talking about? He knew that she liked it much rougher than this; a little thigh bruising was nothing. She placed his hands on her bottom and wove her hands in his hair to jerk his head back.

"Don't tease me, Tom. Harder."

She bit down on the exposed flesh of his throat as his hands made small bruises on her hips and thighs.

She couldn't hold on any longer. She screamed his name as her orgasm flooded her body, her senses and her mind. She grinned as she heard him scream her name, his warmth ejecting inside her.

He collapsed back on the bed, pulling her with him. He righted them to lay the correct way on the bed and he pressed his body close to hers.

They lay there, panting, for long minutes; the other's company was all that was needed. Finally, Tom stirred.

"B'Elanna?"

"Hmm?" Her lids were heavy with exhaustion.

"Why, all of a sudden, did you decide to come to me like this?"

"Why not? I thought you wouldn't mind me waking you up. It's been awhile since we've been able to be together intimately." She felt Tom stiffen.

"B'Elanna, what are you talking about? We've never slept together…though that statement isn't true anymore."

Everything that was wrong tonight added up. How confused he was when he woke up, how unsure he was in their lovemaking, how he had wanted to burn the experience into his memory…

She stared at her lover in the dim light to see the tousled mop of blonde hair that covered his head. She had cut that off long ago when Tom had wanted a new hairstyle. She had kept it trimmed since.

"Tom, what's the stardate?"

His answer made her numb. Three years in the past. They weren't lovers yet.

"Oh God, Oh God. This is bad, really bad." She quickly ran to where her clothes were lying in a heap and started pulling they on.

"What's going on?" Tom seemed slightly hurt at her words.

"Umm…this is complicated. I have to get back before they fix whatever rift I fell through. I need to explain something you might not believe."

Tom's eyebrow raised, but he remained silent as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not the B'Elanna you know. I'm from the future. I somehow slipped through a time drift-our ship ran into a temporal anomaly. Apparently, this section of the ship is in the past. What just happened…didn't happen."

Tom absorbed all of this for a moment, then dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Then this means that wasn't the beginning of a beautiful relationship?"

The hurt in his voice was so obvious behind the attempt at humor.

"No, it wasn't. That doesn't mean it will never happen. Give it time." She stroked his cheek.

Just then, the door chimed. Tom started. He grabbed the boxers at the end of the bed and waited for B'Elanna to hide in his bathroom.

B'Elanna heard the door open and muted voices. I female voice-hers-raised to a crescendo and after a few minutes, she heard the door close.

"That was me wasn't it?" She said as she stepped into the living area.

"Yeah. She saw the bite marks on my neck. She was furious." Tom hid his face in his hands.

"She's just jealous you know. I remember that fight. I remember you-I mean, my Tom-answering the door looking like he had a few rolls in the hay. And the bite marks. That angered me the most. I wanted to kill the bitch. Guess I would have changed my mind if I had known the truth." A smile threatened the corner of her lips.

Tom smiled a crooked grin. "I wonder, would killing your future self be considered suicide or homicide?"

B'Elanna laughed, her voice ringing true and clear against the walls.

Tom's grin only grew. "If I can be yours and make you laugh like _that_ in the future, I can't wait."

B'Elanna's face turned serious. "Just wait for it to happen. And you can't tell anyone about this. Temporal prime directive."

She walked to the door, but turned when he called her name.

"B'Elanna…if we are together in the future…why do you love me?"

She smiled her most genuine smile. " For being you."

She walked out the door without another word.

It had taken another 24 hours to fix the time differentials all over the ship but finally she sat in her quarters, exhaustion slowly taking hold. She had thankfully just been able to return the way she had come and she made sure not to tell anyone of her experience. Beside the temporal prime directive, it would have been more than embarrassing to explain to anyone what happened. Almost any one.

Her door chimed and Tom Paris entered her cabin.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I've missed you."

"Me too."

B'Elanna slid into his lap as he sat on the couch.

"Tom…I know who you were with before me."

Tom gave her an unreadable look. "And who was that?"

Her lips hovered near his ear. "Me."

He kissed her then, his tongue dipping in to taste her.

"Ahhh…Had an adventure yesterday, I see?"

"Yes… a very interesting adventure."

Tom frowned. "Is it possible to cheat on your boyfriend with your boyfriend?"

"Well, you weren't my boyfriend back then, even if I acted like it. At least the jealousy bit."

Tom smiled. His fingers stroked the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. "Maybe you'd like to replay your adventure?"

B'Elanna nuzzled Tom's neck. "Oh yes…Tom?"

B'Elanna stopped to look into his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Why do you love me?"

Tom just stroked her cheek, his fingers slowly sliding up to stroke each ridge in turn.

"For being you."

END

I wrote this years ago but still thought it relevant. Star Trek isn't mine, sadly.


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